Laertes & Hamlet

300 Words2 Pages
Laertes and Fortinbras serve as minor characters that parallel Hamlet and give the reader characters to compare and contrast Hamlet’s actions and emotions throughout the play. Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras are seeking to avenge their fathers. Although all three have similar motives to carry out their deeds and become corrupt through their dedication for revenge, there are distinct differences between the characters. Hamlet’s indecision and inability to confront and kill Claudius is sharply contrasted with Laertes’s desire for a quick and unplanned revenge. Through Hamlet’s inaction, he determines that Claudius should not be killed while praying because that would send him to heaven but unlike Hamlet, Laertes is not concerned about eternal retribution but more about a direct repayment for his father’s death: “To this point I stand, / That both the worlds I give to negligence, / Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged / Most thoroughly for my father.” (Act IV, Scene 5: Lines 134-137) Fortinbras on the other hand seeks revenge not through someone’s death but through reclaiming the land his father lost to Hamlet’s father. Fortinbra’s dedication to avenge his father “Even for an egg-shell” (Act IV, Scene 4, Line 53) also sharply contrasts with Hamlet’s inability to kill Claudius. Although Fortinbras is only fighting to reclaim a small amount of land “That hath no profit but the name” (Act IV, Scene 4: Line 19), the revenge he seeks not only deals with the death of his father but also the history of wars over land for the sole purpose of righting of real and perceived wrongdoings. These three characters all seek retribution in different ways, and Laertes and Fortinbras show other avenues that Hamlet could have taken for his revenge if he had just acted and not concerned himself with the morality of

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